Tecknades: The Swedish Comics Portfolio Out Now

Tecknades… never heard of that label before. It’s the Swedish word for comics; short for Tecknad Series. For some reason, not many people talk about this. Which makes it right up Gutternaut’s alley.

Tecknades: The Beginnings

Starts with the usuals: satirical cartoons in newspapers, turned to strips, got collected into albums. Wonder if that would be a better term than trade collections. Comic books came in the 40s, usually in anthologies combining local talent with imports from Disney.

One of the most visible series of this period is Allan Kämpe. It’s a science fiction adventure that was pretty ahead of its time. Besides the more fantastic nuclear powered ion thrusters, there’s technology that are used in airplanes years later. Plus the main character’s girlfriend/wife is his equal. Pretty normal today, but it was a big deal in the 40s. Every decade someone tries to bring this piece of history back into the public eye. Tragically, they’re often short-lived including the most recent webcomic on the franchise Facebook account.

Birth of an Icon

If that’s not enough, the late 50s gave people the icon Bamse. This teddy bear is basically Sweden’s Popeye who eats his grandma’s Thunder Honey instead of spinach. Bamse was mainly created for his creator to wipe the slate clean off his earlier bear comics, by debuting the teddy in a black and white film. The comics would make it easier to sell that way. Especially since he became a role model for kids with moral lessons.

Wait! Hold Up!

I can’t help but notice that something’s missing. There’s not a mention of censors or banning of Tecknades! How did Sweden avoid this? Well for one, Sweden’s neutrality policy in World War II and the Cold War kept the usual fascists like Nazis and Soviets away. As for Seduction of the Innocent and similar movements, there’s not a single mention of anything. Probably because Sweden’s always been an ally of free speech and the press. Plus as a market economy, it wouldn’t surprise me to see how it treats comics as quality products.

So Why Don’t People Talk About Tecknades?

But that also means that westward coming comics were starting to become the default. Because why bother with risky local talent when publishers can use popular IP licenses? So the Swedes decided to cross-pollinate their stuff with the imports’ traits. Hey when the Phantom and Tintin come knocking, you gotta go all out. That’s how Mystiska 2:an came around with its expressionism. Although you could argue that series pushed a little too much near the end. I’d rather not explain how.

But that didn’t stop artists from trying to push for more adult readers. Of course that took a few tries with only the publisher Epix getting to stick around for longer. So to help get around this, festivals (a.k.a. Comic Cons) popped up in the 90s with help from institutions. As well as the start of alternative publishers that draw inspiration from other countries’ comic books.

It’s Not All Great

Still the comic market did shrink in the 2000s. Mainly because the short-lived nature of ongoing series compared to stuff like the Phantom and manga imports. But even those come under fire in certain scenes.

So graphic novels became a bit of a norm with plenty released a year. Except for those daily press newspaper strips, they’re still the first thing that comes to people’s definition of Tecknades.

According to this wiki, there aren’t a lot of local titles made. But most of the local stuff that does show up is in the Denmark-based Egmont. As well as smaller publishers like Kolik. There are probably more on the digital/web variety but I can’t find them.

Tecknades: Strikes Your Fancy?

So yeah, a familiar story with a twist. Some things were quite ahead of their time. But did this early rise also cause Tecknades to fall into obscurity? Did the same neutrality that prevented censors also keep these comics from reaching their potential? Sure icons like Bamse still appear in stores; but does Sweden have room for more regular comics? Or does it need a little help in spotlighting its local talents?

The ink’s not dry yet. Thanks for coming and as always remember to look between the panels.